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Kohli, Yusuf shine for India in SA serie

Kohli emerged as the highest run-scorer for India with 193 runs, while Pathan scored 166.

Centurion: Virat Kohli and Yusuf Pathan turned out to be the star for India in the batting department while off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was the most economical bowler for the visitors in the five-match ODI series against South Africa which they lost 2-3.

In the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, young Kohli and Pathan put up impressive performances with the bat in hostile South African conditions even as the likes of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina found the going tough.

Kohli emerged as the highest run-scorer for India with 193 runs in the series at an an average of 48.25.

He scored two fluent half centuries, with an unbeaten 87 in the fourth ODI being his highest score.

Pathan, on the hand, made full use of his long handle in the three matches that he played, accumulating 166 runs to finish as the second highest run-getter for India.

Pathan's 70-ball 105-run knock in the fifth ODI here last night was also India's lone century in the series.

Apart from that, he also scored a fifty and has got the best average (55.33) and best strike rate (134.95) among Indians in the series.

Pathiv Patel, who came in as replacement for an injured Tendulkar for the last two ODIs, holds the third best batting average (24.50).

With 111 runs from five innings, Raina is the third highest scorer for India but the left-hander is behind Pathiv in the average list (22.20) as he failed to convert his starts to big scores.

Yuvraj (18.20) and Dhoni (15.00) had a forgettable series as they scored a total of 91 and 75 runs respectively in their five innings.

Rohit Sharma had the worst batting figures for the visitors as opening the batting he could manage only 49 runs from the five matches at an average 9.80.

In the bowling department, Harbhajan holds the best economy rate among Indians. He gave away just 4.36 runs per over in the 47 overs he bowled in the series.

The off-spinner picked up four wickets for 205 runs in the entire series with a best figure of two for 23.

But it was the pace duo of Munaf Patel and Zaheer Khan who stood out in the series, scalping 11 and nine wickets respectively.

Even though he was unsuccessful with the bat, Yuvraj snared five wickets with his slow left-arm spin which proved handy for India.

Opener Hashim Amla was the prolific scorer for South Africa with 250 runs from five innings at an average of 62.50.

His exploits in the series include two fifties and a match-winning unbeaten 116 in the final ODI.

JP Duminy is a close second with 244 runs at an average of 61.00, which includes three half centuries, with 71 being the highest knock.

Pace trio of Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Dale Steyn excelled with the ball for the home team, picking up 12, 13 and eight wickets respectively in the series.

With a rate of 3.70 each, Morkel and Steyn were the most economical bowlers for South Africa, while Tsotsobe was a tad expensive at 4.19.